Quantitative faecal immunochemical testing to guide colorectal cancer pathway referral in primary care

Diagnostics consultation

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is producing guidance on using faecal immunochemical tests to guide colorectal cancer pathway referral in primary care in the NHS in England. The diagnostics advisory committee has considered the evidence and the views of clinical and patient experts.

 You can now comment on the draft guidance.

It summarises the evidence and views that have been considered, and sets out the recommendations made by the committee. NICE invites comments from registered stakeholders, healthcare professionals and the public. This document should be read along with the committee papers (the external assessment report and the 2 external assessment report addenda).

 How to comment

You should read both the draft guidance and the accompanying evidence (see the committee papers) before making any comments.

You must make your comments directly onto the online version of the draft guidance. When you go into the document you will find instructions on how to use the commenting software.  You can also review and edit your comments before you submit them.

You can download a PDF version of the consultation document, but you can only make comments on the online version.

 Consultation documents

• Diagnostics consultation document (Online commenting)
• Diagnostics consultation document (PDF) Accessible version
• Committee papers

 Closing date for comments: 19 July 2023 at 5pm

 About the consultation

The advisory committee is interested in receiving comments on the following:

• Has all of the relevant evidence been taken into account?
• Are the summaries of clinical and cost effectiveness reasonable interpretations of the evidence?
• Are the recommendations sound, and a suitable basis for guidance to the NHS?
• Are there factual errors in the draft guidance?

 Equality issues

NICE is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, eliminating unlawful discrimination and fostering good relations between people with particular protected characteristics and others. Please let us know if you think that the recommendations may need changing to meet these aims. In particular, please tell us if the recommendations:

• could have a different effect on people protected by the equality legislation than on the wider population, for example by making it more difficult in practice for a specific group to access the technology
• could have any adverse effect on people with a particular disability or disabilities.

Please provide any relevant information or data you have about such effects and how they could be avoided or reduced.

Note that this document is not NICE's final guidance on quantitative faecal immunochemical tests to guide colorectal cancer pathway referral in primary care. The recommendations in section 1 may change after consultation.

After the consultation, the committee may meet again to consider the evidence, the draft guidance and comments from the consultation. After considering the comments, the committee will prepare its final recommendations, which will be the basis for NICE’s guidance on the use of the technology in the NHS in England.

 For further details, see NICE health technology evaluations: the manual.

 If you have any problems, contact diagnostics@nice.org.uk

 Key dates:

Closing date for comments: 19 July 2023 at 5pm

Second diagnostics advisory committee meeting (provisional date): 27 July 2023